Dublin Student Accommodation Site Sells for over EUR 20m

A new development company formed by UK and Irish investors is to move forward with the construction of a significant student accommodation complex located beside the Point Village in the north of Dublin docklands.

The consortium bid well over EUR 20m for the 2.38 acres' site, which has planning permission for 935 student bed spaces.

The site is located next to the Luas station and was sold by Declan McDonald of receiver PwC on behalf of Wintertide Ltd and two adjoining land owners, the National Asset Management Authority and CIE.

The sale has been completed at a time when nearly a dozen similar student accommodation scheme having been announced or are already under way.

These include the off-campus projects such as that of Gardiner Street, Dorset Street and Blackpits which alone will provide around 1,300 bed spaces. The single largest scheme is located at Grangegorman and will accommodate around 2,000 students attending the newly relocated DIT.

The Point Village scheme will include two seven storey blocks, consisting of a mix of student clusters containing between three and eight bed spaces as well as twin and single study units.

The first block will have enough room for 589 beds, while the other building will be able to accommodate 346 students and will also space for retail units, designed to attract interest from retailers and restaurant operators.

Dublin universities currently only provide enough on-campus accommodation for 6,000 of the 79,000 student population. The Higher Education Authority has forecast that third-level student numbers in Ireland will increase from 168,000 in 2014 to 193,000 by 2024.

Additional purpose build student accommodation is therefore seen as vital in ensuring students have safe, affordable accommodation during their studies.